Mysterious Samsung DVR set to topple Sky+

News has leaked out that Samsung are set to launch a new Set Top Box in Europe that could revolutionize the way you use your TV. It’s an odd-looking box as you can see from the pics, with retro-looking green LEDs giving limited information from the box itself. This suggests to me that it’ll be inexpensive, which is very good news indeed.

Why? Because the new Samsung STB you see here is actually a DVR, capable of storing HD programmes internally. Better still, it comes with DLNA, meaning it can browse the content from your DLNA-equipped phone and camera (and any other DLNA device) without any configuring; and it’ll also be able to access “Internet media”, which I’m guessing means the likes of YouTube and Flickr.

Put all this together and you have a low-cost alternative to the Sky+ box that will also help DLNA finally reach market penetration, as well as getting the masses used to seeing YouTube and Flickr on their TV. In other words, the Web is about to go mainstream as a major distributor of video content, and the process of it replacing traditional TV broadcasting is really gaining momentum.

Better still, with more and more companies supporting DLNA in increasingly-cheaper devices, the vision of all devices around the home being able to seamlessly share each other’s content is at last starting to become a reality.

We’ll be keeping a close eye on this Samsung box to see exactly what lurks behind its impenetrable facade (i.e. more news as soon as we get it!)